Michel Chapuis: l'Orgue aux trois visages

The Organ with Three FacesIn a unique project, organist Michel Chapuis has made three separate CDs, each devoted to one of the three styles for which the 1754 Riepp organ at Dole in France is well suited, especially following modest enlargment in 1787.

The four wedge bellows were the only parts constructed in the German style by Karl Joseph Riepp when he built the organ at the Collegiate Church in 1754. The other mechanical and tonal elements are made in the mid-18th century French style. When François Callinet arrived in Dole in 1787, he transformed the Riepp reeds, endowing the organ with an extraordinary Grand Jeu. In the 1820s, the Stiehr brothers added an Oberwerk and an Echo. Despite its evolution by three organbuilders, the Dole organ conserves a unified sound that supports works from all periods. Michel Chapuis is profoundly influenced by the Dole organ and shows the three faces in three CDs.